Speaking of batteries for BMW motorcycles, there was a guy, Chuck Walus, in the Chicago BMW club back in the 1980s when I lived in the area.

He owned a business, Walus Engineering. Among other things, he designed, manufactured, and sold, many upgrades for BMW motorcycles.

One of his popular items was a replacement battery tray. I know that it fit the /7 models because I had one on my R100RS; it might have also worked on the /5 and /6 series, I can't remember.

Chuck's battery tray would accommodate a Sears Die-Hard garden tractor battery, which was half the cost, more cranking power, and lasted longer, than the OEM batteries.

I never took my bikes to the stealer for anything other than recalls. One day I was there looking at other bikes and my K1200R's battery was dead. So I had to have them replace it. Didn't make sense to get flatbedded home for me to do the job. $285 later and I think that battery lasted a few months. It was replaced again under warranty this time. Got it replaced one more time before that warranty expired. What a POS their batteries were though.

I took a week off to ride around UT long ago on my 2008 R1200GS and had a battery die in Moab. I limped to the local O'Reilly's as soon as they opened on Sunday, grabbed a new battery and replaced it there in the lot with the tools in the took kit. Easy peasy.

"The Italians call it character. The Japanese call it a design flaw. The Germans deny it."

I've had a BMW GS and RT, as well as many different Japanese motorcycles. I did enjoy riding the BMW's, but after the numerous recalls (and things that should have been recalled that BMW denied), plus the outrageous service costs, I got rid of the BMW's. The RT was a sweet handling bike, I do miss it.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: gocatgo,

My R1100s has the battery under the tank. If you pop the seat you can get to the terminals sorta. To remove the battery you have to remove the tank. To remove the tank you have to remove the plastic panels that cover the tank, about 20-25 fasteners. It’s a pain in the ass. The fuel pump also has plastic nipples where the fuel lines connect that harden and get brittle with age.